Taxonomies and repository for VET and copyrights and data protection associated

Tuesday, 30th June 2015

The technology is developing rapidly, without pause. Training environments together with web 2.0 are entering VET institutions. So technology is starting to be present every day in the classroom and therefore teachers can (and should) create, search and customise every day web based educational resources to bring to their classes in order to improve the teaching and learning of their students. Their present students are surrounded by technology devices, so approaching their current language in their classrooms will get bigger motivation and involvement from their students.

There are not significant reference sites to search for these resources, and when found, you get no information that could show how good that resource could be for your class. In this project we will look for different existing sites and analyse how they are working. Together with that, and having that analysis as an input, we will propose an educational resources taxonomy for store and retrieval. These taxonomies will be tested in 3 different subjects (i.e. ICT, Language training, Situation/Game oriented learning) included in different VET vocations, plus European citizenship as a fourth item. Final selection will be done in the first meeting. This pilot will be carried out using a web based environment that will be developed in the project which will be using the taxonomy worked out in the project for each subject. This environment will therefore be the first seed of a VET educational resources repository. Creative Commons will be promoted among teachers involved in the project, in order to make wider the possibilities of the repository to be used, but there will also be a study about copyright and data protection issues involved.

Bridge Community Farms Joins Share On

Bridge Community Farms

Tuesday, 23rd June 2015

Bridge Community Farms is a social enterprise based in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. We are a working farm that brings together people from all parts of the local community and offers those in need a helping hand. Our main purpose is to offer permanent and sustainable jobs to people who are long-term unemployed, by growing and selling fruit, vegetables, salads and herbs to the local community

We have launched!

Tuesday, 23rd June 2015

The farm on Mill Lane officially launched on Monday night. The launch event brought together the local businesses, charities and individuals who have supported us in the early stages and helped us get set up.

These included Greif UK, Knights Solicitors of Chester, Santander, Costco Wholesale, Wates Construction, Urenco Ltd, the Business Network Chester, Cheshire and West Chester Council, West Cheshire College, Whitby High School, the University of Chester, Brian Kennedy Trust, Healthbox CIC, EPNAVCO and SEED.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Cheshire, who had the original idea to establish an enterprise that created jobs for local people who have been unemployed long-term, joined our Farm Manager Ola Rug in a tree planting ceremony to mark the official opening.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Cheshire, David Briggs, said: “The reason that the word ‘bridge’ is in the name of the farm is because we wanted to act as a bridge between different sectors of our society and get them all working together for the common good. Through Bridge Community Farms we see local businesses working with the local authority and together they have worked with a number of other organisations and some local philanthropists to help the long-term unemployed and other marginalised groups throughout Cheshire West and Cheshire.

“There are many initiatives that help people who are out of work by teaching CV writing or helping to improve interview skills. But they can’t actually provide them the job. What Bridge Community Farms does is create real jobs for people who might not otherwise have had a job. And that is, I think, genuinely different.

Francis Ball, Director of Bridge Community Farms, said: “This is a very exciting and pivotal moment in the young life of Bridge Community Farms and I want to thank everyone who has helped us get to this stage. We wouldn’t be here without generous donations from local businesses and trusts and the fantastic support from our amazing volunteers, who are all helping us to grow better lives in Ellesmere Port. We look forward to growing our team and bringing together all parts of the local community for everyone’s benefit.”

Brexit

Monday, 15th June 2015

It seems that before the UK general election almost every news item was about immigration. There were claims and counter claims about the numbers and benefits of immigration into the UK. This was clearly about politics and not the economics of the situation because now we hear very little about the numbers of immigration - immigration is something that is happening to those unfortunate to be drowning in the Mediterranean Sea.

Now the debate has changed and we are now concerned with the effect that leaving the UK and the subsequent drop in immigrants’ rights to work in the UK will have on UK industry and agriculture.

Agriculture is now seriously getting worried – who is going to be picking our fruit is a question being asked.

Perhaps the deniers and those arguing to reduce immigration and leave the EU can give us an answer?

TAT Conference

Monday, 15th June 2015

TAT international conference workshop took place in Rugby College on 14th and 15th May 2015

The Warwickshire Race Equality Partnership (WREP) facilitated the event. The event was a dissemination of the TAT Project. During the day partners and colleagues addressed the issues surrounding Xenophobia and the underlying causes that make people feel threatened by immigration.